In another great editorial today, the Republic warns voters to beware of the deceptive ad campaign by the payday lenders, and strongly urges voters to reject Proposition 200:

“Payday lenders who take advantage of hard-working families need to be stopped.”

Who says so? The industry itself. The line is featured in one of the sneakiest, stealthiest TV commercials in Arizona election history. Don’t be fooled.

What appears to be a message from consumer advocates is actually sponsored by the payday-loan industry. The “hard-hitting reforms” touted are part of an industry-written initiative, Proposition 200. Voters should turn it down. The industry set up in Arizona in 2000, thanks to a bill exempting it from the state’s limit of 36 percent on the annual interest rate on consumer loans. That exemption, which allowed loans at the annual equivalent of 460 percent, ends in 2010.

These loans can spiral out of control. “For families desperate to pay bills, multiple payday loans can become an escalating debt trap,” says Lucy Howell, who chairs the advocacy arm of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

The non-profit’s limited emergency funds aren’t enough for such cases as the client who paid off $1,000 in payday loans, which ballooned because of overdraft charges, but now has no money for rent. The “reforms” of Proposition 200 just don’t go far enough. A much-touted reduction in rates, for instance, simply closes an unintentional legal loophole that the industry exploits.

Even worse, as a voter-approved measure, Proposition 200 and its industry-crafted rules would be unchangeable and permanent, until another vote. Payday lenders have laid out a staggering $13 million – 84 times more than the opposition has spent – trying to pull the wool over your eyes. Don’t be fooled.

Vote “no” on Proposition 200.

To see the editorial and add your support in the comments section, click here.